Not ready to wear

Hi Y'all!

If clothes didn't fit me properly, I formerly thought I either took the wrong size, chose a cheap brand or simply found a cut not fit for my body. Sometimes I even felt ashamed that I wasn't able to manage the easiest solution for my problem: Just lose weight, and then everything would fit me perfectly. Nowadays I'm older, wiser and more relaxed.  

Of course, finding the correct size is important, and I won't lose any word about fast fashion brands like Primark and so-on. And over time, I got a feeling for my own style, I know what suits me and what doesn't - regardless of dress sizes. Related to standard sewing patterns, my upper body is 4 cm shorter than the average, but my legs are a bit longer, thus I am able to buy normal length pants that don't sweep the floor, although I am far from being a giant. 

Besides, I am totally fine with my waist and belly not being slim; as compensation, my legs are pretty slender. Thus I like wearing dresses which are boxy but short, or skinny-fit pants combined with loose-fitting tops. I don't own jumpsuits, because I would look weird in them even if I'd weigh 25 kg less than now. And never ever would I wear a belt and shorten my torso even more, even if my luxurious diva body would fit into a size 40 (sorry, only German sizing references here). And apart from that: Sizes are only a rough guestimate, if you ask me. Some plus-size-manufacturers write smaller sizes in their garments to make their clients feel better (as if my well-being depended on a number…). Other manufacturers (more on the fast-fashion-side) resize their clothes, that even Twiggy (or Kate Moss for my younger audience) has to chose a size 40 to be able to breathe in it. And I even experienced that pants with the exact same size, fit and model were cut differently, nevertheless. 

My sewing skills improved over the years, and I can proudly say that I made some nice garments for myself (e.g. a softshell jacket and a woolen coat which I both love dearly and wear often), but still I have the greatest respect when it comes to sewing for others. Therefore, I was relieved that hubby ordered some denim pants instead of asking me to sew them for him. Although he was size-wise guided by some well-fitting pants, his first delivery was way too small. When upsizing just one size, the legs were much too long and wide, and he was bummed that he had to buy size x instead of size y (insert whiny noise here). But as it fit nicely around his bum, I urged him to either forget the size or cut the little washing instructions with the imprinted size. There is no use in sending fitting pants back only because you don't like the size tag. The width and length of the legs are easy to change. And it is as it is: There are no people off the shelf, everybody and every body is different. 

Shortening legs of suit trousers is sometimes more, sometimes less complicated. Chinos are pretty easy to shorten, but with denim pants it's completely different because of the characteristic hem - I'm sure you know what I mean. Usually you loose that hem when making the jeans legs shorter and I think that's a shame. We had that even when we purchased at a dedicated jeans shop and asked them to shorten the jeans - you instantly noticed that someone changed the length because the typical hem was gone. Therefore, I tried a new technique (wich I didn't invent, but once I've tried and tested, I can totally recommend). 

First I  cut the above mentioned hem with a seam allowance of 1 cm and then shortened the rest of the leg - bearing in mind the seam allowance and the fact that the original hem will be reattached). Then I placed the hem right sides facing on the leg, with the fraying edges both on one side and the hem pointing to the waistband of the pants (I hope this is clearer on the picture, although it's slightly blurred): 

Then I took a blue thread and sewed directly next to the golden original seam (almost stitch in the ditch). 

Here you hopefully can see that the needle is inserted directly next to the original seam: 

Then I serged it with a zig-zag-stitch as denim frays easily: I

And this is my result:

The hem is kept, but now I have to iron everything. And to keep the seam flat, I glued it to the inside of the leg by using a double-sided adhesive fusible tape-thingy. 

And when it's ironed and turned inside-out, it looks like this: 

Not bad, right? Sure, if you roll up the legs, you will see the seams. But with the right leg length there's no need for rolling up :-)

Therefore, I raise my glass to uniqueness and individuality - cheers!!!